Puig’s Growth-First Tax Debate in Valencia: A Centre-Left Strategy for Inflation, Jobs, and Energy

Grow and spread. Ximo Puig closed his conference yesterday with a simple, pointed message about his political philosophy and European social democracy. Order matters in this small set of verbs. Grow first, then share. That is Puig’s guiding principle, though the emphasis on each verb varies depending on the moment and the audience. Héctor Illueca, the Consell’s vice president for Unides Podem, accused socialists of yielding to economic forces for the second day in a row. The purple leader clearly endorses the idea of a deal, and he supports growth too, but not as a first priority and always influenced by circumstance.

The breakfast briefing at the New Economy Forum in Valencia sketched out this tension between growth and distribution. It’s a familiar pattern for Puig: a series of social advances and left-leaning proposals, pursued in dialogue with the business sector, without creating friction, and with a firm belief that investment is essential for job creation. Renewed commitments from major employers and institutions, including Volkswagen, Ford, Amazon, Mitsubishi and CaixaBank with CaixaForum, underscored this stance.

The proposals presented yesterday stayed squarely within the realm of social development, set on a Monday morning in September with a signal that this political course has an expansive, electoral dimension and a close link to big capital.

<p Puig appears to be stepping onto a decisive path that highlights a center-left profile. It may have been time to foreground the first part of the compound word, and even the middle, with the main proposal centered on a tax review in the Valencia tax zone.

The axis of the anti-crisis policy in this region has been the tax cut, a policy associated with the Popular Party and Valencia’s Carlos Mazón. The left, including the PSOE, criticized this idea for weeks, even as it found support among German social democrats until last week when Pedro Sánchez announced a VAT cut on energy. Puig rode that wave yesterday, narrowing the competition to the PP and building on a municipal alliance against inflation announced at the PSPV summer dinner in Gandia. He insisted this is the big challenge and said he would convene mayors for a forthcoming municipal conference.

When the time comes, tax reform will take center stage. Puig did not spell out many specifics, saying only that work on the Treasury would be discussed at the upcoming Consell seminar, but the aim is to calibrate efforts to address inflation, a top priority. Valencia admitted the tax action would be modest. After the seminar, and possibly a broader policy debate in the Assembly in the last week of the month, details would be refined to maximize the implications.

In this political environment, Compromis is not distant from the proposal, as the Treasury’s regional secretary Francesc Gamero from the coalition is actively involved in shaping the measures.

On the reform’s scope, two main areas stand out: family business taxation and inheritance tax, both already touched upon in the PSPV’s booster program.

For the moment, Puig focused the discussion on aiding the middle and working classes, protecting the vulnerable, and promoting job creation. These broad goals may draw support from a range of interests.

Alongside direct inflation relief, the consell’s president advocated a more left-leaning approach: raising wages and an inter-professional minimum wage, to be achieved through social dialogue and agreements with employers. A renewal of lease arrangements could serve as the practical solution.

The rise in prices is tied to an energy crisis, and Puig defended a commitment to renewable energy while criticizing any nuclear option. The Consell’s chair helped shape the Valencia Pact for Energy Transformation, urging the establishment of clean energies that have caused friction within the governing coalition.

PP claims authorship of tax cut scheme

María José Catalá welcomed Ximo Puig for embracing populist recipes

Unides Podem and Compromís urged that benefits should not come from generous legacies

Diego Aitor San Jose

PPCV heard Puig’s tax inspection announcement and identified with the call to lower taxes, even as Catalá, the party’s regional secretary in the Cortes, welcomed the Generalitat’s president as he followed a set of tax-reduction prescriptions. Yet the cheer was qualified, with criticisms that the plan needed further specification.

When compared to Pedro Sánchez’s national moves, Catalá argued that Puig had not acted in eight years, and she echoed Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s call to lower VAT on energy. The comment from Spain’s Popular Party secretary added a note of irony about the timing and the political context.

Puig, replying, noted that he would have accepted Carlos Mazón’s proposal for fiscal reform a year earlier, and he argued that inflation, energy costs, groceries, and the school year justified the policy steps. For PPCV, there was satisfaction that Puig had adopted their prescriptions, albeit belatedly and with caveats about timing.

There was less enthusiasm among partners. Compromís and Unides Podem demanded that any tax readjustment be progressive, not a cut that benefits large estates. They insisted that those who earn the most should not be shielded while the general population bears more of the burden. A representative of Compromís emphasized that the reform must address market-driven inequalities and that those most in need should receive additional support, arguing that taxes should enable all citizens to live well.

Unides Podem’s initial stance was that tax reform must be a three-part agreement among government partners and that it should be progressive. The group also stressed that the debate should focus on who pays more and who pays less, not simply on lowering taxes for top earners. Civil society groups weighed in as well, with the Consumer Syndicate urging more specificity about what reforms will affect users and consumers, especially those hardest hit by inflation, and calling for consultations with users and consumer groups and greater activity from price observatories and financial observatories in the Valencian Community.

Support for Oltra and funding/tourism tax questions

Puig said he wanted the former vice president, whom he considers a valid figure, to be dismissed.

What was not explicitly stated in yesterday’s talk is equally telling. The discussion did not address the tourism tax, despite regional funding that has highlighted opportunities for Valencians and the influx of funds in recent years.

Puig also highlighted that the Valencian Community’s current employment and social protection levels are far higher than in 2015. While Madrid faces higher back-to-school costs, the Community’s public schools provide free textbooks, and more than 300,000 jobs were created during the Botànic period. The region is described as an autonomous area with relatively low inequality and strong social cohesion, according to a Caixabank study. During the Q&A, Puig stated his intention to dismiss former Vice President Mónica Oltra, who called him a valid person.

He closed his remarks by arguing against pessimism and defending the need for balanced, optimistic coverage of policy developments.